Lottery bosses turned to State Security Company to analyze leaks
Lottery bosses turned to State Security Company to analyze leaks
Blog Article
Previous National Lotteries Fee (NLC) board chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda asked the State Safety Agency (SSA) in December 2018 to research the leaking of files that uncovered lottery corruption.
The NLC’s firm secretary at enough time listed media studies she explained ended up according to “stolen” data in an affidavit for your SSA.
The SSA did investigate. It found the data wasn't a issue of state stability and the “prevalence of alleged corruption and irregularities” gave “ample motive” for that media to reveal it.
A fresh board and administration has due to the fact taken above the NLC and thus far have taken actions to finish corruption in the establishment.
A Point out Security Agency (SSA) investigation observed that the “prevalence” of alleged corruption and irregularities involving the NLC and its beneficiaries “presented enough motive” for publicity by the media.
The probe into supposed “data protection breaches and sabotage of NLC functions” was carried out immediately after then-NLC board chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda wrote into the SSA in December 2018 requesting it to analyze.
Here's
Nevhutanda’s letter,
an affidavit by now suspended NLC enterprise secretary Nompumelelo Nene supporting the ask for, and
the security company’s “private” findings and recommendations.
Nevhutanda questioned the SSA to research the function of NLC employees in the alleged leaking of knowledge, and Nene, in her affidavit identified precise media and studies that she claimed associated these leaks.
While in the letter outlining its conclusions, the SSA advised the NLC that though safeguarding point out info was “a authorized very important aimed at safeguarding the sovereignty and integrity of your point out” this only placed on correctly categorised information.
Even though it didn't say so instantly, the SSA conclusions implied the allegedly leaked facts did not fall into this category.
Significantly, the SSA made it clear that the need to defend point out facts “isn't going to prevent any particular person from blowing the whistle on corruption or irregular or criminality”.
The SSA investigation found which the NLC data involved in the alleged breach was “delicate and privileged in mother nature, although not categorised in terms of the prescripts with the Bare minimum Information Security Benchmarks (Overlook)”.
“The leakage in the suitable sensitive Formal NLC information to the media doesn't pose a threat to countrywide protection,” the SSA explained, including which the affect in the breaches was reputational.
The SSA report found “no proof of a factual and incriminating character against any with the suspected NLC staff that may be determined from the data and info interrogated”.
It also stated that “the prevalence of alleged corruption and irregularities in the NLC and at its beneficiaries does deliver ample motive to get these uncovered during the media”.
Conspiracy promises
In 2020, Nevhutanda told MPs in the course of a session of Parliament’s trade, market and Levels of competition portfolio committee that there was “a conspiracy” where facts “stolen” with the NLC was sent to the US, where by he claimed it had been becoming bought to fund a smear campaign versus the NLC.
He was repeating related promises he had Earlier created in Parliament, which bundled ad hominem attacks on GroundUp which reporter but was very careful not to name either.
“I came below in this August property very last calendar year and reported to honourable members that details about our beneficiaries has become stolen and place in one state in America,” he told MPs.
“We called on the Point out Protection Agency to return check into the issue due to the fact we are having studies that our info is building income for media platforms and journalists,” he stated. “There was speak, not surprisingly from 1 supply, a person media, that spoke Significantly about proactive-funding,” Nevhutanda claimed (referring to GroundUp), but didn't tell MPs that the SSA investigation had been finished Practically a 12 months previously.
Proactive funding was at the center on the looting with the lottery. It aspect-stepped the conventional grant method. The NLC could itself determine a venture to fund and appoint a non-profit organisation to supervise it.
Immediately after Nevhutanda 1st informed Parliament in 2018 that he experienced asked the SSA to analyze the supposed breach, the South African Countrywide Editors Forum issued an announcement saying that his remarks reflected “an extremely unsafe attitude the place the media is being blamed to the NLC’s inherent complications”.
“As opposed to investigating why thousands and thousands can not be accounted for, the NLC has instead tried to cast question over the integrity of the journalists involved and it has requested the SSA to research their sources.”
Proactive projects made top secret
Protection flaws recognized within the NLC grant funding system during the SSA’s investigation, appear to happen to be utilized being an justification with the NLC to remove all proactive-funded projects from its central grants procedure.
“In or about 21 December 2019, the classification of all Professional-actively funding tasks was heightened to ‘secret’ and initiatives had been faraway from the grant funding program and managed manually beneath the custody of [Tsietsi Maselwa] the NLC’s [then] Deputy Information and facts Business office, Govt Manager Authorized so that you can safeguard [the] details,” Nene claimed in her affidavit.
“There was lots of inner discussion, with numerous forwards and backwards, about how to proceed to plug the alleged leaks”, a resource, who was in a senior place on the NLC at time, informed GroundUp. “Ultimately, the choice was taken to eliminate all of the proactive tasks from your process and Restrict use of A few people today”.
Some in that handful of folks have been implicated in corruption.
Maselwa, who resigned within the NLC various yrs back, is implicated in corruption involving lottery resources. He obtained R4.three-million from lottery cash allocated to build a library and museum complicated in Kuruman (see Taung Cultural Tunes and Arts Expo) which he made use of to make a residence within an upmarket gated development in Pretoria. The home is one of various compensated for with lottery resources which were frozen once the Asset Forfeiture Device obtained a preservation order in December 2022.
The politically-connected Nevhutanda, who was appointed because the NLC board chairperson by former President Jacob Zuma in 2009 and was near high-ups within the ANC Management, previous NLC former Commissioner Thabang Mampane, and ex-Main running officer Phillemon Letwaba, have all been implicated while in the corruption which overcome the NLC on their own enjoy.
Also implicated are former board users William Huma, who resigned just after he was confronted with evidence of how he experienced profited from corrupt lottery grants, and Muthuhadini Madzivhandila, that has because died.
Any time a new administration, including the overall board and executive, took about in the NLC in late 2022 and early 2023, they learned a “chaotic mess” within the documentation associated with proactive funding, much of which was paper-based mostly. Critical files were being lacking. Data files held for safekeeping by doc storage company Metrofile were signed out and never returned.
The NLC was capable of Recuperate copies of some hihuay files from its Mimecast email archiving program plus the laptops in their assistants and support workers.
News studies
In his 1 December 2018 letter, tackled to then SSA Minister Dipuo Letsatsi-Duba, Nevhutanda wrote: “The NLC has famous with grave problem achievable details safety breaches and also the unauthorised use and/or dissemination of private information and facts received because of carrying out Formal functions in the Commission by NLC workers. The things to do are intended to undermine the integrity of the Commission though disrupting the powerful capabilities [in the NLC] and producing insurmountable reputational harm to your Fee as the custodian of personal facts entrusted to it by its beneficiaries.”
His ask for with the SSA to investigate was supported in an affidavit by suspended NLC organization secretary, Nomphumelelo Nene.
Nene is at the moment struggling with a disciplinary inquiry after she was unsuccessful in lawful motion to set aside findings of irregular expenditure on her view.
The purpose of her affidavit, Nene said, was “to history the situations which transpired regarding data security breaches at the Nationwide Lotteries Commission”.
She stated a variety of information studies which she claimed were the final results of these “breaches” (see at the end of this article).
Nene explained that a whistle-blower approached the NLC alleging that one of its personnel, Sello Qhino, experienced “delivered her classified NLC Details and persistently encouraged her to offer the knowledge to GroundUp”.
Qhino, who blew the whistle over a number of dodgy lottery-funded initiatives in Kuruman just after tries to boost The problem internally have been dismissed, was subsequently fired.
Referring to an 18 November 2018 article during the Day by day Dispatch with regard to the misappropriation of Lottery cash, Nene mentioned which the NLC determined after which suspended Zintle Rungqu. She was an staff while in the NLC’s East London Workplace, who was the husband or wife as well as the mom of whistleblower Mzukise Makatse’s a few young children.
Rungqu and Makatse consider Rungqu was punished since Makatse blew the whistle. She was suspended and billed internally, While using the NLC investing R470,000 on lawyers to depict it, but was observed not responsible and allowed to return to work.
“The frequent Consider these articles or blog posts is always that [they entail] categorized info referring to proactive funding projects,” Nene reported in her affidavit.
When Runqu was suspended, Makatse moved out with the household house to go ahead and take heat off her and his small children. Going through homelessness, he moved into an Workplace within an vacant factory belonging to a colleague.
Each Makatse and Qhino are participating in an NLC reparation system intended to recognise the harm a number of people experienced at the hands in the NLC. Apologies and, sometimes, money payment are predicted.
“Some persons were being definitely afflicted pretty negatively by this … This is admittedly agonizing,” NLC Commissioner Jodi Scholtz instructed the Day-to-day Maverick final year.
“I fulfilled several these people. It absolutely was just so heart-wrenching that their full lives have been turned the wrong way up,” said Scholtz.
Amid those she satisfied were being Qhino and Makatse.
Protected System needed for whistleblowers
The SSA identified the absence at enough time of an appropriate channel for whistleblowers to report corruption led them to show towards the media.
“Failure to have a devoted anti-corruption channel will cause staff members presenting these types of cases beyond the NLC,” the SSA reported in its conclusions.
“Supplied the magnitude of corruption in condition institutions, it continues to be very important that it makes certain that the NLC complies with all safety prescripts Which its aim is on guaranteeing that illegal and irregular carry out is adequately mitigated from and by making certain an suitable channel for whistle-blowers to report untoward carry out without staying intimidated.”
It suggested the NLC build a “Protected channel” for workers to deliver information on any “untoward activity” that might not reduce or discourage workers from blowing the whistle. A whistle-blowers policy, determined by the Shielded Disclosures Act twenty five of 2000, is usually a need.”
Media reports Nene listed
A ten December 2017 report during the Limpopo Mirror about corruption and maladministration involving the Lottery-funded Vhembe Health and Fitness Centre in Limpopo. GroundUp has labored carefully with Anton van Zyl, an investigative reporter and owner with the Limpopo Mirror, to reveal NLC corruption. “The post experienced aspects of information not readily available in the public area, thereby increasing issue on inner Information safety breaches. The allegations during the media have been independently investigated,” Nene reported. “Nonetheless, staff members accountable for divulging categorized facts have yet to become recognized”;
A 28 January 2018 write-up revealed because of the Dally Dispatch “citing a lot of allegations within the Limpopo Mirror posting released on 10 December 2017 as well as a new allegation referring to a previous worker through the identify of Mzukisi Makatse. He was charged and summarily dismissed for the menace triggered towards the organisation.”
A sixteen November 2018 post during the Lowvelder in regards to the misappropriation of NLC funds involving a lottery-funded drug rehabilitation centre. GroundUp has documented how, Despite receiving R27-million in lottery grants, the rehab has not been concluded. “The Lowvelder article contained categorized facts in terms of NLC policy, raising more worries of inside facts protection breaches,” Nene claimed in her affidavit. “The prima facie proof regarding these allegations did not warrant an unbiased Investigation, having said that [it] highlighted the heightened information and facts protection hazards within the NLC.”
A 22 November 2018 GroundUp expose a few dodgy R27.5-million grant to Denzhe Main Treatment, a hijacked NPO. Nene mentioned GroundUp experienced confirmed in its story that it was according to leaked NLC paperwork. This was despite the NLC rejecting a PAIA (Promotion of Access to Facts) ask for for facts regarding the undertaking, she mentioned